Jake Bugg, The Creases, Cameron Avery (The Growl) @ The Palace Theatre, Melbourne (16/04/2014)
In town for Bluesfest this Easter weekend, Jake Edwin Charles Kennedy (aka Jake Bugg) performs the first of his sideshows at the iconic Palace Theatre in Melbourne, which will sadly be closing its doors for good next month.
Opening up tonight's show is supposed to be an acoustic version of Fremantle rockers The Growl but due to an attack on their bassist Marc Earley earlier in the year, frontman Cam Avery is solo tonight. Some people may know him as the new bassist for psychedelic rockers Tame Impala. Standing at the back of the room it was very difficult to hear Cam due to most of the crowd not seeming at all interested and continuing on with their conversations. It was quite disappointing to see. It wasn't until his last song that I could finally hear just how good a voice he actually had.
Brisbane indie rockers The Creases take to the stage next to a much bigger and more interested crowd. After a couple of songs guitar trouble stops them for a few minutes but that doesn't stop the young band from playing through a bunch of catchy songs. This includes their debut single I Will Wait and even a cover of Tal Bachman's She's So High which, of course, sparks a big singalong.
Jake Bugg takes to the stage half an hour later to massive screams and interestingly kicks things off with non-album track Kentucky. The first track from his latest album Shangri La called There's A Beast And We All Feed It follows. There's no surprise that hit single Seen It All has everyone in the crowd singing along, as does new single Me and You. Bugg certainly has one of the more unique voices in the music industry today and the crowd soak in every word of every song. Nearing the halfway mark of his set when Bugg takes it down for a few songs you get the feeling he is almost just going through the motions, which is very unfortunate. Bar a few “thank you's” he has yet to even speak to the crowd.
A cover of the classic blues song Killing Floor by Howlin' Wolf and the first single from Shangri La, What Doesn't Kill You, brings the main set to an end. A three song encore featuring a cover of Neil Young's My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue) before ending with Lightning Bolt from his debut album brings the concert to a close. As enjoyable as the concert was it was very disappointing that Bugg didn't take the time to really talk to the crowd.
Matt Barton
Opening up tonight's show is supposed to be an acoustic version of Fremantle rockers The Growl but due to an attack on their bassist Marc Earley earlier in the year, frontman Cam Avery is solo tonight. Some people may know him as the new bassist for psychedelic rockers Tame Impala. Standing at the back of the room it was very difficult to hear Cam due to most of the crowd not seeming at all interested and continuing on with their conversations. It was quite disappointing to see. It wasn't until his last song that I could finally hear just how good a voice he actually had.
Brisbane indie rockers The Creases take to the stage next to a much bigger and more interested crowd. After a couple of songs guitar trouble stops them for a few minutes but that doesn't stop the young band from playing through a bunch of catchy songs. This includes their debut single I Will Wait and even a cover of Tal Bachman's She's So High which, of course, sparks a big singalong.
Jake Bugg takes to the stage half an hour later to massive screams and interestingly kicks things off with non-album track Kentucky. The first track from his latest album Shangri La called There's A Beast And We All Feed It follows. There's no surprise that hit single Seen It All has everyone in the crowd singing along, as does new single Me and You. Bugg certainly has one of the more unique voices in the music industry today and the crowd soak in every word of every song. Nearing the halfway mark of his set when Bugg takes it down for a few songs you get the feeling he is almost just going through the motions, which is very unfortunate. Bar a few “thank you's” he has yet to even speak to the crowd.
A cover of the classic blues song Killing Floor by Howlin' Wolf and the first single from Shangri La, What Doesn't Kill You, brings the main set to an end. A three song encore featuring a cover of Neil Young's My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue) before ending with Lightning Bolt from his debut album brings the concert to a close. As enjoyable as the concert was it was very disappointing that Bugg didn't take the time to really talk to the crowd.
Matt Barton